Document imaging system and method for imaging documents

ABSTRACT

A system is provided for processing documents. In particular, the system is incorporates a feeder for feeding documents to a device for further processing of the documents. For instance, the system finds particular application in the field of document imaging in which a variety of documents of varying sizes and orientation are to be fed to an imaging system, such as a document scanner. The system may provide an input mechanism for easily identifying a characteristic of one of the documents and the system may include features for handling packets of documents.

PRIORITY CLAIM

The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 14/704,280 filed May 5, 2015, which is a continuation ofInternational Patent Application No. PCT/US15/29119 filed on May 4,2015, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Appl. No. 61/988,148filed on May 2, 2014 and U.S. Provisional Appl. No. 61/988,880 filed onMay 5, 2014. The entire disclosure of each of the foregoing applicationsis hereby incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of document processing. Inparticular the present application relates to feeding documents to adevice for further processing of the documents. The present inventionfinds particular application to the field of document imaging in whichdocuments are to be fed to an imaging system, such as a documentscanner.

BACKGROUND

Automated and semi-automated machines have been employed for processingdocuments. Further, in many instances it is desirable to obtain imagedata of the documents. However, documents may be organized eitherindividually, in packets or in large stacks. If the documents are inpackets or stacks, the individual documents need to be separated to bescanned. Although advances have been made in the processing of suchpackets, it is desirable to have an improved system for feeding packetsand larger stacks with minimal manual preparation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In light of the foregoing, an apparatus is provided for improving thesemi-automated processing of packets of documents. The apparatusincludes a feeder operable to receive a packet of a plurality ofdocuments and separate the documents to serially feed the documents awayfrom the feeder.

In light of the foregoing, the present invention addresses variousshortcomings of the prior art. For instance, according one aspect, thepresent invention provides an apparatus for scanning packets ofdocuments. The apparatus may include a feeder operable to receive apacket of documents wherein the feeder comprises an entry gap. A sensordetects a characteristic of the documents in a packet indicative ofwhether the number of documents in a packet exceeds a predeterminedthreshold. A drive mechanism controls the distance that the packet isadvanced into the feeder in response to the detected characteristic ofthe packet. The apparatus may comprise a scanner for scanning thedocuments to obtain image data for the documents and it may comprise agenerally horizontal conveyor for conveying packets of documents to thedrive mechanism.

According to another aspect, an apparatus for processing documents isprovided that includes a feeder a pre-singulator and a sensor. Thefeeder may be operable to receive a packet of a plurality of documentsand separate the documents to serially feed the documents away from thefeeder. The pre-singulator may be disposed adjacent the feeder. Thepre-singulator may comprise a first roller and a second roller forming afirst nip for receiving a packet of documents. The first roller may bedisplaceable away from the second roller to form a gap having a heightbetween the first and second rollers. The sensor may be operable todetect a characteristic of the transaction indicative of whether thenumber of documents in the transaction exceeds a predeterminedthreshold. A controller may be provided which independent controls theoperation of the two pre-feeders. Optionally, the controller controlsthe position of the first roller to control the height of the first gap.

According to another aspect, an apparatus for processing documentshaving a controller a sensor array and either a sorter or a scanner isprovided. The controller may control the processing of the documentsbeing processed by the sorter or scanner. The sensor array may comprisea plurality of sensors. Optionally, the sensors may be spaced apart fromone another and the sensors may be positioned to allow an operator todisplace a document over one or more sensors of the array. Thecontroller may receive signals from the sensor array indicative of whichsensor or sensors the document was passed over and the order in whichthe document passed over the sensor(s). The sensor array may beconfigured so that passing a document over the sensors from a firstdirection identifies the document as a first type of document andpassing the document over the sensors from a second direction identifiesthe document as a second type of document. The controller mayelectronically tag the document based on the document type identifiedusing the sensor array.

According to another aspect, the present invention provides a method forprocessing documents. The method may include the step of passing a firstdocument over a sensor array having a plurality of sensors, wherein thestep of passing the first document over the sensor array comprisesdisplacing the document in a first direction. The method may include thestep of electronically tagging the first document as being a firstdocument type based on the step of passing the first document in thefirst direction over the sensor array. The method may also include thestep of passing a second document over the sensor array by displacingthe document in a second direction and the method may also include thestep of electronically tagging the second document as being a seconddocument type based on the step of passing the second document in thesecond direction over the sensor array. The method may also include thestep of controlling the processing of either a scanner or a sorter toprocess the first document type differently from the second documenttype.

According to a further aspect, the invention provides a method forprocessing documents, comprising the steps of displacing a documentrelative to a sensor in a first direction to identify the document as afirst document type and the step of displacing the document in a seconddirection relative to the sensor array to identify the document as asecond document type. The method may also include the step ofcontrolling the first processing of the document based on whether thedocument is identified as a first document type or a second documenttype. For instance, the document may be electronically tagged as thefirst document type. Alternatively, the document may be sorted to afirst area if the document is identified as a first document type or thedocument may be sorted to a second area if the document is identified asa second document type. Alternatively, the document may be scanned by ascanner in a first manner if the document is identified as a firstdocument type or the document may be scanned in a second manner if thedocument is identified as a second document type.

According to a further aspect, the present invention provides anapparatus for scanning documents, comprising a generally horizontalconveyor, a scanner for scanning the documents dropped onto the conveyora first support and a second support. In a first orientation the firstand second supports are spaced apart from one another with the conveyorbetween the first support and the second support so that the conveyor isspaced off the ground. In a second orientation the first and secondsupports pivot to collapse the apparatus for transportation.

According to another aspect, the present invention provides a method forscanning documents. The method may include the step of providing ascanner workstation that may have a generally horizontal conveyor, ascanner for scanning the documents, a first support that isdisplaceable, and a second support that is displaceable. The method mayinclude the step of displacing the first and second supports into afirst orientation in which the first and second supports are spacedapart from one another with the conveyor between the first support andthe second support so that the conveyor is spaced off the ground andprovides an open area between the conveyor and the ground. The methodmay also include the step of inserting a portion of the scanningworkstation onto a vehicle and then displacing the first and secondsupports into a second orientation to collapse the apparatus fortransportation while the portion of the scanning workstation supportsthe scanning workstation.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing summary and the following detailed description of thepreferred embodiments of the present invention will be best understoodwhen read in conjunction with the appended drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a document processing system;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an alternate embodiment of a documentprocessing system;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a document identification assembly forthe system of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the image entry feeder of thesystem illustrated in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of the image entry feeder illustratedin FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a pivot arm of the image entry feederillustrated in FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the image entry feeder illustrated in FIG. 4;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary plan view of a portion of the imaging station;

FIG. 9 is a schematic view of the document path of the deviceillustrated in FIG. 2;

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary view of the device illustrated in FIG. 2;

FIG. 11 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the sorter of the deviceillustrated in FIG. 2;

FIG. 12 is an enlarged fragmentary view of an alternate imaging sensorassembly of the device illustrated in FIG. 2;

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of an imagingsystem;

FIG. 14 is a fragmentary perspective view of the support structure ofthe system illustrated in FIG. 13;

FIG. 15 is a fragmentary perspective view of the support structureillustrated in FIG. 14 showing an support outrigger in a upwardposition;

FIG. 16 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of the supportstructure illustrated in FIG. 14;

FIG. 17 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of the deviceillustrated in FIG. 13, showing the support structure extendedoutwardly;

FIG. 18 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of a portion of thesupport structure illustrated in FIG. 14;

FIG. 19 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of a portion of thesupport structure illustrated in FIG. 18 from a rearward perspective toshow the backside of the support structure;

FIG. 20 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of the supportstructure illustrated in FIG. 19; and

FIG. 21 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of the supportstructure illustrated in FIG. 20.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring now to the figures in general and to FIG. 1 in particular, adocument scanning workstation 10 is illustrated. The workstation 10processes documents by dropping the documents individually or in stacksonto a conveyor that conveys the documents to an imaging station. Theimaging station separates the documents, serially feeding the documentsto an imager that obtains image data for the documents. The documentsare then sorted into one or more output bins.

The present system is directed to improving the flow of documents in adocument processing system. The system has particular application toworkstations directed to processing documents, and has particularapplication to processing packets of documents to scan the documents toobtain image data. In an exemplary embodiment, the workstation isconfigured as a semi-automated system for processing documents of avariety of types, including documents of varying size as well as foldeddocuments, such as documents extracted from envelopes. The system may beincorporated into a larger system that includes elements such as acutting station for cutting open envelopes and an extraction station foropening the envelopes to present the documents to the user forextraction. Such stations are described in detail in U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/090,172, the entire disclosure of which ishereby incorporated herein by reference. However, it should beunderstood that the present system has application to systems that donot incorporate document extraction features, but are instead directedto processing documents generally. For instance, features of the presentsystem may be incorporated into a system that does not include theextraction features, but includes the horizontal conveyor, scanningstation and sorting station. Further still, features of the system mayhave application generally in a document processing system in which itis desirable to manually feed packets of documents into the systemwithout organizing or otherwise preparing the packets for feeding intothe system.

Brief Overview of Document Extraction Embodiment

With the foregoing in mind, a general overview of the flow of documentsin an exemplary system for processing mail is as follows. Initially, astack of envelopes containing documents, referred to as a job, is placedinto an input bin. A feeder 30 removes the lead envelope 5 from thefront of the stack and transfers the envelope to a feed tray.

The envelope 5 in the feed tray is edge-justified by a plurality ofopposing rollers. From the feed tray, the envelope 5 drops into a sidecutter, which severs the side edge of the envelope if desired. From theside cutter, the envelope drops into a shuttle. The shuttle movesvertically to adjust the height of the top edge of the envelope toaccount for variations in the height of the different envelopes in thejob. The shuttle moves vertically until the height of the top edge ofthe envelope 5 is within an acceptable range for advancing the envelopeinto a top cutter. The envelope is then transported to the top cutter,which severs the top edge of the envelope 5.

From the top cutter the envelope is advanced to an extraction station70. The extraction station 70 pulls apart the front and back faces ofthe envelope to present the contents of the envelope for removal. Anoperator then manually removes the contents from the envelope 5.

After the operator removes the documents from the envelope 5, theapparatus 10 automatically advances the envelope to a verifier 90. Theverifier 90 verifies that all of the documents were removed from theenvelope before the envelope is discarded. From the verifier 90 theenvelope is conveyed into a waste container. Alternatively, the envelope5 may be manually removed and imaged at the imaging station 210.

After the documents are extracted at the extraction station, theoperator unfolds as needed and drops or places the extracted documentsonto a drop conveyor 100 that transports the documents toward an imagingstation 210. An imaging entry feeder 110 receives the documents from thedrop conveyor 100 and controls the feeding of the documents into theimaging station 210. The image entry feeder 110 is configured to receiveand feed documents of various sizes and condition. For instance,frequently documents are folded in an envelope. When the documents areextracted and opened up, the documents are creased or folded so thatthey do not lie flat. The feeder 110 is preferably configured to receivesuch creased or folded documents and serially feed the folded documentsinto the imaging station 210 with minimal manual preparation by theoperator.

The imaging station 210 includes an imager 230 that obtains image datafor each document as the document is conveyed past the device. Forinstance, preferably the imager 230 is a scanner that obtains gray scaleor color image data representing an image of each document. The scannerscans each document at a plurality of points as the document is conveyedpast the scanner. The information for each document is stored in a datafile for each document so that the image data can be accessed at a latertime.

From the imaging device, preferably an imaging transport conveys thedocuments to a sorting station 240 that sorts the documents into aplurality of output bins 245. The documents can be sorted in a varietyof ways. For instance, the documents can be sorted based on documentinformation obtained from the image data received at the imaging station210. Alternatively, the operator may indicate information regarding adocument before it is scanned, so that the document is sorted accordingto the information indicated by the operator. Yet another alternative isthat the documents may be stacked into one or more bins simply based onthe order in which the documents are processed.

Since many of the documents may be creased, ordinarily the documentswill not readily stack in a compact manner so that relatively fewercreased documents can be discharged into a bin before the bin is full.Accordingly, the documents may be processed by an uncreaser, which is anelement that reduces the creasing or folds in the documents. Theuncreaser flattens or straightens the documents so that they lay moreflatly in the output bins so that more documents can be discharged intoa bin before the bin is full.

A controller controls the processing of the mail in response to signalsreceived from various sensors at various locations of the workstation 10and in response to parameters set for the job by the operator. Forinstance, in response to an indication from a sensor in the feed traythat there is no envelope in the feed tray, the controller sends asignal to the feeder envelope 30 indicating that an envelope should befed from the input bin to the feed tray. Similarly, in response to anindication from a sensor in the shuttle that there is no envelope in theshuttle, the controller sends a signal to the feed tray indicating thatan envelope should be dropped from the feed tray into the shuttle.

The workstation is divided into numerous functionally separate sections,which include: a feeding station 30, a side cutting station, a topcutting station, the extraction station 70, the verification station 90,the imaging station 210, and the sorting station 240. In most cases, thecontroller controls the operation of the various sections independentlyfrom each other. This independence allows several operations to proceedsimultaneously or asynchronously as required. As a result, a slow downin one section does not necessarily slow down all of the other sections.

In addition, preferably the operations of the apparatus from the dropconveyor through the sorting station are controlled separately from theoperation of the other stations. Further, preferably, an operatorinterface is provided so that the operator can intervene to control theprocessing of the documents. Specifically, preferably a touch screendisplay 20 is provided that allows the operator to enter variousinformation regarding the documents.

In the foregoing description, the imaging work station 10 is describedas including a variety of stations for opening envelopes so thatdocuments can be extracted from the envelopes and then scanned.Alternatively, an alternative embodiment is illustrated in FIG. 2 inwhich the imaging work station is designated 10′. In this alternativeembodiment, the work station includes a substantially similar dropconveyor 100, imaging station 210 and sorting station 240. However, thealternative work station 10′ does not include the envelope feeding,cutting and opening stations as illustrated in FIG. 1. Therefore, itshould be understood that the following description of the dropconveyor, image entry station, imaging station and sorting station areapplicable for both the first and second embodiments illustrated inFIGS. 1-2.

Details of the Drop Conveyor

Referring to FIGS. 1-2, the drop conveyor 100 is configured to receive avariety of documents, including, but not limited to documents extractedfrom the envelopes. The conveyor 100 is disposed along the front edge ofthe work station 10, such that the conveyor is operable to conveydocuments adjacent to and parallel to the front edge of the workstation. In addition, the conveyor preferably conveys the droppeddocuments toward the left hand side of the workstation from theperspective of FIGS. 1-2.

The conveyor is configured to receive documents that are dropped ontothe conveyor in a generally horizontal or substantially horizontalorientation and then convey the dropped documents to the imaging station210. In this way, the operator can readily extract and, if necessary,unfold documents and simply drop a document or packet of documents ontothe conveyor with minimal preprocessing of the documents to prepare thedocuments for scanning.

Although the operator preferably drops the documents onto the drop zoneof the conveyor, the drop zone is a substantial area that is much largerthan the documents. Accordingly, the operator does not need to beprecise with the location and orientation that the documents are droppedonto on the conveyor. However, preferably the operator drops thedocuments so that the documents are front face up on the conveyor.

To this end, referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and 9, preferably the conveyor 100is a roller bed conveyor. The bed of rollers provides a generallyhorizontal surface onto which documents can be dropped. The roller bedcomprises a plurality of horizontally disposed cylindrical rollersdriven by a belt engaging the bottom of the rollers, which in turn isdriven by a motor controlled by the system controller. The rollers 102may be parallel to each other and perpendicular to the direction oftravel so that the documents move straight along the roller bed 100.However, preferably, the rollers are skewed so that the rollers drivethe documents forwardly along the roller bed and laterally toward ajustification rail 105. In this way, the skewed rollers 102 drive thedocuments against the rail 105 to edge-align or justify an edge of thedocuments against the rail.

Each of the rollers 102 comprises a plurality of grooves sized toreceive O-rings. The O-rings have a higher coefficient of friction thanthe surface of the rollers, to provide an area of increased frictionbetween the roller bed and the documents, thereby improving thejustification of the documents. As mentioned previously, the documentrests on the rollers. Therefore, as the rollers 102 rotate, the rollersmove the documents forwardly.

Although, the drop conveyor 100 has been described as a roller bedconveyor, alternative types of conveyors can be utilized as the dropconveyor. For instance, the drop conveyor may comprise a horizontalconveyor belt. If a conveyor belt is used, preferably the belt is skewedtoward the rail 105 so that the belt justifies the documents against therail. Alternatively, rather than a single conveyor belt, the dropconveyor may comprises a plurality of smaller conveyor belts onto whichthe documents may be dropped.

Although the conveyor 100 is referred to as a horizontal conveyor,preferably the drop conveyor is angled downwardly so that gravity urgesthe documents toward the guide rail 105. Preferably the conveyor 100 isangled at approximately five degrees, however, the angle may be higher,and in fact, the angle of the conveyor may be increased to a point thatthe conveyor is vertical rather than horizontal. In addition, preferablythe imaging station and sorting station are angled downwardly similarlyto the drop conveyor.

Document-Type Identification

As an operator processes documents, the operator may noticecharacteristics of various documents that would affect the processing ofthe document or transaction. Since the system is configured to process awide variety of documents, there may be numerous characteristics thatcould affect how a document is processed. Therefore, the system providesan interface that allows the operator to input information aboutnumerous characteristics of a document.

The system includes an interface, such as a touch screen 20, which theoperator may use to identify the document-type prior to dropping thedocument onto the conveyor 100 for processing. Additionally, the systemmay include a gesture-based document identification assembly 50 forreadily identifying the document-type prior to dropping the document.The document ID assembly 50 is configured to identify several differentdocument-types by simply inserting the document into the document IDassembly in a particular manner so that the operator can quickly andeasily identify the document-type.

The document ID assembly 50 is a small tower that includes a pluralityof sensor arrays 60 a, 60 b, 60 c. Each sensor array is separatelyoperable to identify a particular characteristic of the document tosignal how the document is to be processed. For instance, each sensorarray is operable to identify the document-type, which then may be usedto determine how the scanned image data for the document is to beprocessed. The number of sensor arrays and the orientation of the sensorarrays may vary, however, in the present instance, the document IDassembly 50 includes three generally horizontal slots 52, 54, 56. Morespecifically, the three slots are spaced apart from one another and areoriented in a vertical column so that the upper slot 52 is above themiddle slot 54, which is above the lower slot 56. The document IDassembly housing is configured to provide access from the right and leftsides of the document ID assembly and from the front of the assembly.Accordingly, the slots are configured so that the operator can easilyinsert a document into any of the three slots 52, 54, 56 to identify thedocument-type.

A sensor array 60 a, 60 b or 50 c is disposed within each of the threeslots. The sensor arrays may be configured in a variety of orientations.In the present instance, each sensor array includes three separatedocument sensors. For instance, referring to FIG. 3, sensor array 60 ais disposed within upper slot and sensor array 60 a includes threesensors spaced apart from one another. For example, the sensors may bepositioned so that all three sensors are in a line from the right sideof the upper slot toward the left side of the upper slot or from thefront opening of the slot toward the rear wall of the upper slot.However, in the present instance, the sensors are oriented so that thethree sensors 62 a, 62 b, 62 c form an offset configuration. Inparticular, the first sensor 62 a is positioned adjacent the left edgeabout halfway toward the rear wall of the upper slot 52. The secondsensor 62 b is located adjacent the front edge of the upper slot 52about halfway across the width of the upper slot. The third sensor 62 cis located adjacent the right edge of the upper slot about halfwaytoward the rear wall. Positioned in this way, the three sensors form atriangular pattern.

The sensors may be any of a variety of sensors for detecting thepresence of a document in the respective slot of the document IDassembly. However, in the present instance, each sensor comprises anemitter positioned in the lower wall of the respective slot and areceiver positioned in the upper wall of the slot. The sensor operate asbeam break sensors so that when a documents is placed between theemitter and the receiver, the document blocks the signal from theemitter so that the receiver does not receive the signal from theemitter. In this way, when the document blocks the sensor, a controller,such as a microprocessor receives a signal from the sensor andinterprets the signal to indicate that a document has been inserted intothe respective slot. One exemplary type of sensor to be used in thesensor arrays is an infra red emitter and receiver pair. However, itshould be understood that a variety of alternate document detectors canbe used to detect the presence of a document.

Although each slot of the document identification assembly can beconfigured differently, in the present instance, the layout of thesensors in each of the arrays is substantially similar. Specifically, ineach array 60 a, 60 b, 60 c, the sensors 62 a, 62 bb 62 c are spacedapart from one another in an offset pattern to form a triangularconfiguration.

By using multiple sensors in each array, the same array can be used toautomatically identify several different document types. For example, ifthe operator inserts the document into the upper slot by inserting thedocument into the upper slot 52 from right to left—in essence swipingthe document through the slot—the right sensor 62 c will first detectthe document, then the middle sensor 62 b will detect the document, thenthe left sensor will detect the document. The system controller receivesthe signals from the sensor array and identifies the document as a firstdocument-type when the signals from the sensors are: right, middle,left. The system controller then controls the processing of the documentimage and/or sorts the document accordingly. Conversely, if the documentis swiped through the upper slot from left to right, the order ofsignals from the sensors will be reversed (i.e. left 62 a, middle 62 bthen right 62 c). When the system controller receives such a sequence ofsignals, the system controller identifies the document as a seconddocument-type and processes the document images and/or sorts thedocument accordingly. Further still, since the middle sensor 62 b isoffset from the left and right sensor 62 a, 62 c, the sensor array canbe used to identify a third document-type in response to inserting thedocument straight into the upper slot 52 rather than swiping thedocument through the slot from right to left or from left to right. Whenthe document is inserted straight (or generally straight) into the upperslot 52, the middle sensor 62 b will first detect the presence of thedocument. As the document is inserted further, the left and/or rightsensor(s) will then detect the presence of the document, depending onwhether the document is skewed. When the system controller receives asequence of signals in which the middle sensor first detects thedocument and then receives a signal from one or both of the right andleft sensors, the system identifies the document or documents as being athird document-type and processes the images and/or sorts thedocument(s) accordingly.

As mentioned above, the document identification assembly 50 includesthree insertion slots 52, 54, 56, each having an array of multiplesensors. In the present instance, each sensor array 60 a. 60 b, 60 c isoperable to identify three different document types based on the mannerin which the document is inserted into the insertion slot. Configured assuch, the system is capable of identifying nine unique document types.Since each different document-type can be identified by swiping thedocument over a sensor array in the identification assembly, the systemallows rapid identification of numerous document-types so that theoperator does not need to waste time inputting information into thesystem to identify the document type for documents that require specialor separate processing.

Although the document identification system has been described as havingthree input slots each having an array of three sensors, it should beunderstood that the number of sensor arrays and the number of sensors ineach array may be varied depending on the application. For instance,identifying three document-types may be sufficient for manyapplications. In such an instance, the document identification assembly50 may only include a single array of three sensors. Similarly, ratherthan including three sensors, each array may include just two sensors sothat each array is only capable of detecting swiping in two directionsrather than three. Accordingly, it should be understood that thedocument identification assembly can be varied to provide differentconfigurations of arrays that use different motions for distinguishingbetween document-types. Further still, the document-type identificationcan be determined based on only one or more of the sensors in an array.For instance, the operator may insert a document into one of the slotsso that only the left sensors is blocked and then the document is pulledback out without covering any of the other sensors. As long as no otherdocument is inserted into the same sensor array within a pre-determinedtime frame, the system will determine the document-type based on thesignal from the one sensor. In this way, the number of gestures can beincreased to increase the number of different document types that can beidentified by a gesture.

For instance, returning again to the embodiment in which the documentidentification assembly 50 includes three array of three sensors, in theabove-description, each array is able to identify three document typesbased on the gesture used (e.g. left to right swipe, right to left swipeor in and out swipe). By combining multi-sensor gestures with gesturesthat swipe fewer sensors, the number of gestures could be more thandoubled: a) left to right in-and-out swipe in which only the left sensoris swiped, b) right to left in-and-out swipe in which only the rightsensor is swiped, c) in-and-out swipe of the front sensor; d) right toleft swipe in which the right and center sensor are swiped but not theleft sensor; (e) left to right swipe in which the left and centersensors are swiped but not the right sensor; (f) skewed right in-and-outswipe in which the center sensor and then the right sensor is swiped butnot the left sensor; and skewed left in-and-out swipe in which thecenter and then the left sensor are swiped but not the right sensor.

Utilizing this method, the system can be used to identify a variety ofdocument characteristics, and process the documents accordingly.Although a primary purpose for identifying the document-type is tocontrol processing of the scanned image(s) of the identified document orpacket of documents, it may be desirable to identify certain documentsand sort those documents to a particular bin. Accordingly, thedocument-type determination can be used to control any of a variety ofsubsequent processing steps for the identified document(s). However,identifying the document-type is typically done to identify acharacteristic of the document to process the scanned image in aparticular manner. For example, a characteristic may be to identifywhether the document is printed in a landscape orientation. If astandard 8½×11 sheet of paper is identified as being in a landscapeorientation, the system can auto-rotate the image appropriately so itcan be displayed in a landscape orientation rather than in a portraitorientation.

Accordingly, the system can be used to identify numerous features, suchas the following:

Color—The operator can identify documents that should be scanned incolor. In some jobs, the default scan may be black and white or grayscale. If the operator identifies a document for color scanning, thedocument is scanned in color rather than black and white or gray scale.

Color dropout—The operator can identify documents that should be scannedin color, but with a particular color dropped out from the scan. As partof the set-up for a job, the operator selects the color that should bedropped from the scan.

Transaction boundary—The operator can identify a document as atransaction boundary. For instance, an operator can identify a documentas being the last document in a transaction. Subsequent documents willbe identified in a separate transaction.

Automatic rotation—The operator can identify documents that need to berotated, such as documents that are in landscape orientation.

Page-type determination—The operator can identify the document type,particularly if two different types of documents have similar physicalattributes. For instance, a job may have two document types that arevirtually identical in size, such as a check and a money order. Thepage-type determination can be used to distinguish a money order from acheck, so that the document images can be scanned appropriately and thedocuments can be sorted separately, if desired.

This list of document features illustrates some of the differentcharacteristics that can be identified by the operator. In addition,numerous other characteristics can be identified for different type ofdocuments and different applications. Accordingly, the above list is notan exhaustive list of all of the features that can be used to tagdocuments for different processing.

Image Entry Feeder

Referring to FIGS. 4-7, the details of the image entry feeder 110 willbe described in greater detail. The image entry feeder is positionedadjacent the end of the drop conveyor 100, so that the drop feederconveys the documents to the image entry feeder, which in turn feeds thedocuments to the imaging station 210. As the documents are conveyed tothe image entry feeder 110, the documents are generally horizontallydisposed, riding on top of the drop conveyor 100 and are edge-alignedagainst the justification rail 105.

The image entry feeder 110 is operable to serially feed documents fromthe drop conveyor 100 to the imaging station 210 so that the documentscan be individually imaged. The image entry feeder 110 is operable toreceive a number of different types of documents, including individualdocuments, envelopes, and packets of envelopes. In the followingdiscussion, a packet of documents should be understood to mean a groupof two or more documents that are in overlapping relation, as opposed toa number of documents that may be related, but which are conveyedserially to the image entry feeder. A packet may be as few as twodocuments, but may be substantially more. Specifically, as discussedfurther below, the system may be configured to process large packets of50, 100 or even 200 documents. When a group of documents becomes largeit is commonly referred to as a stack. However, for ease of discussion,it should be understood that a packet includes any group of two or moredocuments, including large packets commonly referred to as a stack.

When processing packets, the image entry feeder 110 separates andserially feeds each document in a packet to the imaging station 210. Theimage entry feeder 110 includes a pre-feeder assembly 120 and a feeder160. The pre-feeder assembly 120 is configured to prepare packets forentry into the feeder 160, thereby reducing the likelihood of a jamoccurring as a packet enters or is processed by the feeder.

The pre-feeder assembly 120 comprises a first pre-feeder 122 and asecond pre-feeder 140 that control the packet of documents travellingfrom the drop conveyor 100 to the feeder 160. The first pre-feederassembly 122 includes a pair of opposing rollers 128 and 138 that form anip. An angled guide at the end of the justification rail 105 overhangsthe conveyor 100 and directs the documents downwardly toward the nip ofthe first pre-feeder assembly 122. More specifically, for foldeddocuments that were unfolded but remained creased or documents that areotherwise not flat, an upper edge of the documents tends to be spacedoff the surface of the drop conveyor. The justification rail 105 has alip overhanging the drop conveyor 100, so that this upper edge of thedocuments tends to be displaced under the lip of the justification railas the conveyor tends to move the documents toward the justificationrail. The angled guide interacts with the justification rail 105, sothat the upper edge of the folded documents is flattened downwardlytoward the conveyor so that the leading edge of the document can enterthe nip of the first pre-feeder assembly rather than folding over.

As mentioned above, the first pre-feeder assembly includes an upperroller 128 and a lower roller 138 that form a nip. The upper roller 128is a drive roller, and the lower roller 138 is a driven roller. Theupper roller 128 is mounted on a pivoting arm 130 that pivots about apivot shaft at a pivot axis 132. A biasing element biases the pivotshaft to urge the upper roller 128 toward the lower roller 138. Asdocuments enter the first pre-feeder assembly 122, the roller andpivoting arm pivot away from the lower roller against the bias of thebiasing element to form a gap large enough to accommodate the documentor packet of documents entering the first pre-feeder assembly. As thetrailing end of the document or packet of documents exits the firstpre-feeder assembly 122, the upper roller 128 pivots into engagementwith the driven roller 138 until the subsequent document or packetenters the first pre-feeder assembly. Alternatively, if the packetincludes numerous documents, an actuator may pivot the upper roller 128upwardly (counter-clockwise from the perspective of FIG. 5) to reducethe likelihood that the first pre-feeder 122 pushes the top documentsoff the packet as the packet enters the first pre-feeder. The details ofdriving the pre-feeders upwardly are discussed further below.

The lower roller 130 of the first pre-feeder 122 is rotatably mounted ona fixed shaft, and may operate simply as an idler roller. In the presentinstance, the lower roller is coupled to the fixed shaft via a torquelimiting device 132. A variety of torque limiting devices can beutilized, and in the present instance, the lower roller is connectedwith the shaft via a magnetic torque limiter.

From the first pre-feeder assembly 122, the documents enter the secondpre-feeder assembly 140. The second pre-feeder also includes a drivenupper roller 142 biased toward a driven lower roller 144 to form a nip.

As discussed above, the first and second pre-feeders 122, 140 comprisedrive rollers that are biased toward opposing driven rollers. Althoughthe upper drive rollers 128, 142 are pivotable to accommodate thickpackets of documents, the upper rollers may tend to push the upperdocuments in the stack rearwardly (i.e. upstream toward the dropconveyor) as the packet enters the pre-feeders. To maintain the packetsin a neat stack, it may be desirable to automatically lift the upperrollers 128, 142 of the pre-feeders prior to the packet entering thefirst pre-feeder 122.

A variety of actuators may be used to drive the pre-feeder pivot armsupwardly, such as a linear drive element (e.g. a solenoid) or a rotarydrive mechanism (a motor with a rotary output shaft). In the presentinstance, a first motor 125 is operably linked with the pivot arm 130 ofthe first pre-feeder 122. Specifically, motor 125 is a servo motor thatdrives an arm 126 clockwise or counter-clockwise (from the perspectiveof FIG. 4). In the present instance, the connecting linkage is a biasingelement, such as a spring. The spring extends from the arm 126 to a rodextending through post 133 that projects away from pivot arm 130 (shownin FIG. 6). In this way, when the controller actuates the servo motor125 to lift the arm 130 of the first pre-feeder 122, the servo motorrotates arm 126 counter-clockwise, which in turn pulls down post 133,which in turn rotates pivot arm 130 counter-clockwise (from theperspective of FIGS. 4-5) thereby raising the pivots arms. In this way,the upper roller 128 of the first pre-feeder 122 is raised so that thebottom edge of the upper roller is near or above the top surface of thepacket of documents. The same actuator may be used to lift both thefirst and the second pre-feed arms. However, in the present instance,the second pre-feeder 140 is actuated independently by a separateactuator. Specifically, the second pre-feeder includes a second servomotor and linkage configured similarly to the servo motor 125 andlinkage described above.

The pre-feeder assembly 120 may be controlled so that the pre-feederarms are pivoted upwardly before each document or packet of documentsenters the pre-feeder assembly. However, lifting the pre-feed roller 128and 142 is primarily beneficial when the packet is a thick packet of asignificant number of documents. Accordingly, a thickness detectorpositioned along the drop conveyor 100 detects the thickness ofdocuments as they are conveyed along the drop conveyor 100. If a packetof documents exceeds a threshold, the pre-feeder arms are lifted beforethe packet enters the pre-feeder assembly.

A variety of sensors can be used to measure the thickness of packets onthe conveyor 100. In the present instance, one or more reflectivesensors are mounted on the justification rail 105 at the front edge ofthe machine. If a sensor adjacent the end of the conveyor (adjacent thepre-feeder assembly 120) detects a thickness exceeding a threshold, thecontroller sends signals to the servo motors connected to the pre-feedarms 128, 142. In response to the signals, the servo motors drive thelinkages to lift the arms.

Once the pivots arms 128, 142 are raised, the drop conveyor 100continues to drive the packet forwardly into the pre-feeder assembly. Afirst sensor between the first and second pre-feeder is operable todetect the leading edge of the packet. For instance, the first sensormay be a beam break sensor, such as an emitter and receiver pair. If thefirst sensor detects the leading edge of the thick packet, the leadingedge of the packet has entered the first pre-feeder 122. Therefore, theservo motor 125 de-actuates, pivoting arm 126 clockwise (from theperspective of FIGS. 4-5) which reduces the spring force pulling on post133 of pivot arm 130. As a result, the first pre-feed arm pivotsdownwardly so that drive roller 128 contacts the top document in thepacket. The second servo motor may also be de-actuated to allow thesecond pre-feed arm to lower at the same time. However, to limit thelikelihood that the second pre-feeder lowers before the packet entersthe pre-feeder, the second servo motor is de-actuated after the firstservo motor. Specifically, a second sensor downstream from the firstsensor may control de-actuation of the second servo motor. Specifically,the second sensor may be positioned closer to the second pre-feederassembly 140 and when the leading edge of the packet is detected by thesecond sensor, the controller controls the second servo motor to lowerthe second pre-feeder arm 130 so that the upper wheel of the secondpre-feeder lowers into contact with the top document in the packet ofdocuments.

As described above, the first pre-feeder 122 and the second pre-feeder140 cooperate to drive documents toward the feeder 160. The first andsecond pre-feeders may be controlled in tandem, however, in the presentinstance, the first pre-feeder 122 is controlled independently of thesecond pre-feeder. For example, a first clutch 195 may controlengagement of the first pre-feeder. More specifically, a first drivebelt 198 may drive the driven roller 128 of the first pre-feeder. Thefirst clutch 195 is operable to engage and disengage the first drivebelt with the drive motor. Similarly, a second clutch 197 may controlengagement of the second pre-feeder. Specifically, a second drive belt199 may drive the driven roller 142 of the second pre-feeder. The secondclutch 197 is operable to engage and disengage the second drive beltwith the drive motor. Additionally, rather than a single drive motor forboth the first and second pre-feeders, the pre-feeder assembly 120 mayinclude two separate drive motors to drive the drive rollers 128, 142.Further still, in the present instance, the drive motor that drives thefirst and second pre-feeders 122, 140, may also drive the feeder 160. Ifa single drive motor is used to drive both pre-feeders and the feeder,the system may include a third clutch that selectively engages anddisengages the feeder with the drive motor.

As shown in FIGS. 4-5, a packet detector 155 is positioned between thefirst pre-feeder assembly 122 and the second pre-feeder assembly 140.The packet detector may be configured to provide indicia of the numberof documents being conveyed from the first pre-feeder assembly 122 tothe second pre-feeder assembly. In one manner, the thickness detectormay determine the thickness of the document or packet of documents andthen estimates the number of documents based on the assumed thicknessfor an individual document. However, in the present instance, thethickness detector 155 does not directly measure the thickness of thedocument or packet. Instead, the thickness detector 155 is an ultrasonicdetector that uses ultrasound waves emitted from a transmitter andreceived by a receiver. Based on the signals received by the receiver,the number of transitions between sheets of papers can be determined toevaluate how many documents are in a stack. More specifically, thepacket detector 155 detects whether the transaction in the pre-feeder isa packet of two or more documents as opposed to a single document.

Feeder Station

The feeder 160 includes a plurality of feedbelts 165 spaced apart fromone another across the width of the image entry feeder module 110.Although a single wide belt could be used, in the present instance, thefeeder incorporates parallel belts mounted about a plurality of rollers.Specifically, in the present instance, the feeder 160 includes a driveroller 162 mounted on a drive shaft 161. The feedbelts 165 are alsoentrained about a pair of driven rollers 164 a, 164 b as shown in FIGS.4-5. Roller 164 a, 164 b may be aligned with the drive roller 162 tocreate an upper belt run and a parallel lower belt run. However, in thepresent instance roller 164 b is offset from a line passing through theaxis of drive roller 162 and driven roller 164 a. In this way, the lowerrun of feed belts 165 have a first portion angled downward and a secondportion angled upwardly as shown in FIGS. 4-5. The rollers 162, 164 arerotatably mounted between a pair of mounting brackets. The frontmounting bracket is a flat arm, whereas the rear mounting bracketincludes an attached lifting arm for pivoting the feeder.

The feeder 160 is driven by drive shaft 161, and is also pivotable aboutthe drive shaft. For instance, in FIGS. 4-5 the feeder 160 is pivoteddownwardly into an operation position in which the feeder can feeddocuments. However, the feeder 160 may be pivoted upwardly about driveshaft 161 (clockwise from the perspective of FIG. 5) to allow removal ofdocuments that may be jammed in the feeder.

A retard mechanism 180 is disposed below the feeder 160 opposing thefeeder to selectively impede the entrance of documents into the feeder.The retard mechanism 180 selectively cooperates with the feed belts 165to separate the documents in a packet. An angled ramp guides documentsexiting the nip of the second pre-feeder assembly 140, and directs thedocuments toward the area between the feeder belts 165 and the retardassembly 180. The retard mechanism 180 includes a high friction retardpad 182.

Control of Packet Advancement

If the packet detector 155 determines that the transaction is only asingle document, the transaction does not need to be singulated by thefeeder, so the document continues through the pre-feeder assembly 120without being stopped. In contrast, if the packet detector determinesthat the transaction travelling from the first pre-feeder 122 to thesecond pre-feeder 140 has two or more documents then the packet isadvanced to the feeder 160 and stopped at the feeder so that the feedercan singulate the documents in the packet.

As discussed further below, once the system determines that atransaction is a packet, the system may control the advancement of thepacket based on the number of documents in the packet. Morespecifically, the distance that the packet advances before being stoppedat the feeder may be controlled based on the thickness of the packet,

As discussed previously, in addition to the packet detector 155, apre-feed sensor is also provided, which senses the leading edge of adocument or packet as the document or packet is conveyed through thepre-feeder assembly 120. The pre-feed sensor may be any of a variety ofsensors, and the functionality of the pre-feed sensor may be combinedwith the functionality of the packet detector 155. However, in thepresent instance, the pre-feed sensor is a separate sensor in the formof an infrared transmitter and receiver disposed between the firstpre-feed assembly and the second pre-feed assembly. More specifically,the pre-feed sensor is mounted on the circuit board on which the ultrasound detector 155 is mounted, which is disposed between the firstpre-feed assembly 122 and the second pre-feed assembly 140. Furtherstill, a second pre-feed sensor is also provided. The first pre-feedsensor is disposed upstream from the packet detector 155 while thesecond pre-feed sensor is positioned along the document path downstreamfrom the packet detector. Both pre-feed sensors are the same type ofsensors and are located along the paper path so that the system cantrack the leading edge of the packet as the packet exits the firstpre-feeder 122 and enters the second pre-feeder 140.

From the second pre-feeder assembly 124, the documents enter the feeder160. Specifically, a feed slot is formed between the feeder 160 and aretard assembly 180 below the feeder. An angled ramp 175 guidesdocuments exiting the nip of the second pre-feeder assembly 140, anddirects the documents toward the area between the feeder belts 165 andthe retard assembly 180. As discussed further below, the angled ramp 175and the feeder 160 combine to form a convexly angled or tapered entranceslot to the feeder. In this way, the height of the entrance slot (i.e.the distance between the ramp 175 and the feed belts 165) tapers down asthe document path progresses downstream through the entrance to thefeeder until the height of the entrance slot reaches a minimum aboutmidway along the length of the feeder.

If a packet of documents is fed through the pre-feeder assembly 120, thefeeder operates to singulate the documents in the packet so that eachdocument is serially fed into the imaging station 210. If instead of apacket, a single document is fed through the pre-feeder assembly 120,the single document simply passes through the pre-feeder and is fed bythe feeder 160 to the imaging station 210.

By incorporating a tapered entrance slot, the feeder can accommodate awider variety of packet thickness without having to pivot the feeder tocreate a feed slot thick enough to accommodate packets having numerousdocuments while at the same time being able to control single documenttransactions and/or transactions having only a few documents.

Specifically, the system controls the advancement of packets through thepre-feeder 120 based on the thickness of the packet. In particular, thedistance a packet is advanced into the entry slot of the feeder isinversely related to the thickness of the packet. For instance, a packetof 100 sheets has a packet thickness of roughly 0.400″ whereas a packetof 10 sheets has a packet thickness of roughly 0.040″″. Since theentrance slots tapers, the packet of 10 sheets can advance farther intothe feed slot until the upper sheet contacts the feed belts, which formthe upper surface of the entry slot. In contrast, the packet of 100documents will not have to advance as far into the entry slot before theupper sheet in the packet contacts the feed belt.

Accordingly, in order to control the advancement of the packets, thesystem detects the thickness of the stack and monitors the advancementof the packet to stop the stack at the appropriate location relative tothe feeder. A variety of sensors or detectors can be used to detect thethickness of the packet. However, in the present instance the systemdetermines the thickness of the packet based on the displacement of thepivot arm of the first pre-feeder 122. Specifically, a pair of opticalsensors is provided, with each having an emitter and a correspondingreceiver. The optical sensors are positioned next to one another withthe first being positioned vertically above the second pair. The opticalsensors detect the movement of an indicator attached to the upper pivotarm 130 of the first pre-feeder. The optical sensors straddle theindicator to monitor the movement of the thickness indicator as theupper pivot arm pivots to accommodate the thickness of the packet. Sincethe displacement of the pivot arm 130 is proportional to the thicknessof the stack, monitoring the displacement of the pivot arm can roughlydetermine the thickness of the packet.

Referring to FIG. 6, the details of the thickness indicator 135 areillustrated. The thickness indicator 135 comprises a series of teeth 136separated by notches 137. A single optical sensor could be used todetect the movement of the thickness indicator 135. Specifically, in theinstance of an infrared optical sensor having an emitter and acorresponding receiver, the emitter is positioned on a first side of thethickness indicator 135 while the receiver is positioned on the otherside of the thickness indicator so that the thickness indicator passesbetween the emitter and the receiver (i.e., the optical sensor straddlesthe thickness indicator). The sensor is positioned so that the sensor isblocked when a tooth 136 is aligned with the sensor and so that thesensor is unblocked when a notch 137 is aligned with the sensor. In thisway, the sensor detects the number of translations from blocked tounblocked and from unblocked to blocked as the pivot arm 130 pivots toaccommodate the thickness of the packets—as previously mentioned, thethicker the packet, the further the pivot arm pivots to accommodate thepacket.

Although a single sensor can be used to detect the packet thickness, inthe present instance a pair of optical sensor are aligned in a stackedformation. By way of example, if upper tooth 136 a blocks both opticalsensors when no packet is in the first pre-feeder 122, the pivot arm 130will pivot upwardly (counter-clockwise) as the packet pushes the pivotarm upwardly. As the pivot arm 130 pivots, the lower sensor will firstdetect a transition from blocked to unblocked as when the upper edge ofthe first notch aligns with the lower sensor. As the pivot arm continuesto pivot upwardly, the upper sensor will detect the transition from thefirst tooth 136 a to the first notch 137 a. This detection oftransitions will continue for the two sensors as the pivot arm pivotsupwardly so that the sensors detect the transition from the first notch137 a to the second tooth 136 b then to the second notch 137 b untilsensing the transition from the second notch 137 b to the third tooth136 c. In this way, the thickness of the packet is related to the numberof transitions detected by each of the optical sensors.

Conversely, as the feeder 160 singulates the documents in the packet,the thickness of the packet will reduce, thereby causing the pivot arm130 to pivot downwardly, which in turn will cause the optical sensors todetect the opposite transitions from when the pivot arm move upward toaccommodate the thickness of the packet. Accordingly, the system isoperable to continuously monitor a characteristic indicative of thethickness of the packet while a portion of the packet is in the firstpre-feeder.

As discussed previously, when processing a packet, particularly a thickpacket, it may be desirable to pivot the pivot arms 130, 143 of theprefeeders upwardly so that the front edge of the packet does notcollide with the drive rollers 128, 142, which could disrupt the packetof documents and cause the packet to shingle or unstuck prematurely. Ifthe arms are raised before receiving the packet, the packet thicknessdescribed above can still be used. Specifically, when the pivot arm ofthe first pre-feeder is raised up, the thickness indicator will bepivoted upwardly so that the sensors will detects the pivoting of thepivot arm similar to that described above when the packet pushes thepivot arm upwardly. After the arms are lifted and the packet enters thepre-feeder 120, the servo 125 reverses direction thereby driving arm 125clockwise. Raising arm 125 relaxes the spring thereby decreasing thebiasing force that lifts the pre-feed arm 130 (i.e. the tension forcebetween arm 126 and post 133 of arm 130). In response, the pre-feed arm130 pivots downwardly toward the stack. Specifically, in the presentinstance, a biasing element is disposed between the frame of thepre-feeder and the end 139 of arm 130 opposite post 133. The biasingelement biases the pre-feeder arm 130 against counter-clockwiserotation, so that the biasing element biases the first pre-feed roller128 downwardly toward the opposing roller 138. After the pivots arm isreleased, the sensors will detect the downward pivoting of the arm 130similar to when the arm pivots downward when the packet height isreduced as the feeder singulates the documents. Accordingly, regardlessof whether the packet pushes the pivot arms up or whether the systemdrives the pivots arms up and then releases them, the thickness detectormade up of the thickness indicator and the optical sensor(s) cancontinuously detect and monitor the packet thickness in the firstpre-feeder. As the height of the packet reduces, the servo motor 125raise arm 126 to decrease the bias force that tends to lift the arm 130.In this way, as the documents are fed from the packet, the systemcontrols the displacement of arm 125 to balance the tension forcelifting roller 128 away from the top of the packet and the tension forcepulling the roller 128 down toward the top of the packet to maintain theforce of roller 128 against the packet at a substantially constant rate.

The system also tracks the leading edge of the packet as the packetadvances through the pre-feeder assembly 120 toward the feeder 160. Forinstance, the system may include a series of sensor 190 a, 190 b, 190 c,190 d, 190 e, 190 f aligned along the document path adjacent the feeder160. As the packet advances toward and into the feeder the leading edgeof the packet sequentially blocks the sensors 190 a-f. For instance, asthe packet advances toward the feeder, the leading edge of the packetfirst blocks sensor 190 a. If the packet is advanced further, theleading edge of the packet blocks sensor 190 b. This continues until thepacket is stopped at the feeder to stage the packet for singulation.

Accordingly, after determining the thickness of the packet, thepre-feeder assembly 120 advances the packet toward the feeder. Thedistance that the packet is advanced toward the feeder correlates withthe thickness determined for the packet. For instance, if the systemdetermines that the packet has a thickness similar to a packet of 100documents, the packet may be advanced until the leading edge of thepacket covers feeder sensor 190 a, at which point the packet is stoppedto stage the packet at the feeder. If the system detects a packet havinga lower thickness, such as a thickness similar to a packet of 50documents, the packet may be advanced farther into the feeder, such asuntil the leading edge of the packet covers sensor 190 c, at which pointthe packet is stopped to stage the packet at the feeder for singulation.Additionally, after the packet is staged and the feeder beginssingulating the packet, the height of the packet will reduce. When thedetected thickness of the packet reduces below a threshold, the packetmay be advanced further into the feeder. For instance, turning to theexample described above, once the packet of 100 documents is reduceddown to 50 documents, the packet may be advanced until the leading edgeof the packet covers sensor 190 c.

In the foregoing discussion, the advancement of the packet through thepre-feeder assembly 120 is controlled based on the detected thickness ofthe packet as well as the position of the leading edge of the packet.However, it should be understood that other factors may also affect theadvancement of the packet through the pre-feeder assembly. For instance,the system tracks the trailing edge of a first packet and the leadingedge of the following packet. In order to ensure a proper gap betweensuccessive packets, the advancement of a packet may also depend on thedetected gap between the packet and the preceding packet.

In addition to the elements described above, the flow of documentsthrough the image entry feeder module 110 may also be controlled basedon signals received from sensors in the imaging station 210. Forinstance, the imaging station 210 may include a feeder exit sensor 215positioned downstream from the feeder 160, but upstream of crusherrollers 220 that engage the documents to control the transport of thedocuments through the imaging station 210. The feeder exit sensor 215may be any of a variety of sensors that are operable to detect theleading and/or trailing edge of a document. In the present instance, theimage entry sensor 215 is an infrared transmitter/receiver sensor.

As discussed above, when processing a packet, the system detects whetherthe transaction is a packet or a single document. If the transaction isa packet of documents, the system evaluates a measurement of the packetthickness. The packet is then advanced until the leading edge of thepacket is positioned at the appropriate location relative to the feeder.Specifically, the leading edge of the packet is advanced into the feederentry slot. The distance that the packet advances into the feeder entryslot may determined based in part on the packet thickness. Once theleading edge of the packet is advanced to the desired position in thefeeder, one or both of the pre-feeders is disengaged. As discussedabove, each pre-feeder is controlled by a separate clutch 185, 197 sothat they pre-feeders can be independently engaged and disengaged.

By way of example, if the leading edge of the packet blocks the thirdsensor 190 c, the first clutch may be disengaged to disengage the driveforce provided to drive roller 128 of the first pre-feeder. However, thesecond pre-feeder may remain actuated to urge the top document in thepacket toward the feeder. The feeder 160 will continue to serially feeddocuments from the packet as long as the downstream documents continueto advance.

If the leading edge of the packet covers the fourth feeder sensor 190 d,the second clutch 197 may be disengaged to disengage the drive forceprovided by the drive roller 142 of the second pre-feeder. The feeder160 may continue to serially feed documents from the packet as long asthe downstream documents continue to advance. If there is aninsufficient gap between the leading edge of the top document in thepacket and the trailing edge of the preceding document, the drive motormay be turned off so that the feeder does not feed further documentsfrom the stack. When the preceding piece advances sufficiently, themotor is re-started, but only the feeder is actuated; both pre-feedersremain disengaged. The second pre-feeder may be re-engaged once thethird feeder sensor 190 c is no longer covered by the leading edge ofthe packet. Additionally, once the feeder 160 feeds a sufficient numberof documents from the packet that the first feeder sensor 190 a isuncovered, the first clutch may be re-actuated to re-engage the firstpre-feeder 122 so that both pre-feeders drive the packet toward thefeeder as described previously. This process can iteratively proceeduntil the feeder feeds all of the documents in the packet, at which timethe next packet is advanced.

Additionally, the imaging station 210 may include a sensor that detectsthe leading edge of documents downstream from the crusher roller priorto the documents entering the imager. At this point, the documents areentrained by the crusher roller 220 and no longer controlled by theimage entry feeder module 110. The sensor may also be operable to detectthe thickness profile of a document. The thickness profile can then beevaluated to determine a characteristic about the document. Forinstance, the profile for two documents as detected by the ultrasoundsensor 155 is similar to the profile for an envelope. However, thethickness profile for an envelope has characteristics that distinguishthe envelope from two sheets of paper due to the changes in thicknessover the length of the envelope resulting from the seams of theenvelope.

Configured as described above, the image entry feeder module 110operates as follows. The drop conveyor 100 conveys one or more documentsto the image entry feeder module 110 to feed the document(s) to theimaging station 210. If the document(s) is creased or otherwise stickingup from the drop transport 100, the entry guide 115 deflects thedocument(s) toward the first pre-feed assembly 124. The document(s)enter the nip between the drive roller 128 and the driven roller 130. Asthe documents enter the nip, the drive roller or upper roller 128 isdisplaced away from the lower driven roller 130 to provide clearance ofthe document(s). A thickness detector detects the displacement of thepivot arm 130 as the upper roller moves away when the documents enterthe nip of the first pre-feed assembly. Alternatively, rather thanthickness detector, a signal from ultrasonic detector 155 indicative ofa thick packet of documents may be used. The signal from the thicknessdetector or ultrasonic detector is communicated with the centralcontroller, and if the thickness detected exceeds a predeterminedthreshold, then the packet is considered a thick packet, and the dropconveyor 100 is stopped until the thick packet has been fed to theimaging station by the image entry feeder module 110. Specifically, thesystem does not advance documents into the first pre-feed assembly 122until the document(s) being fed from the second pre-feed assembly 124 tothe feeder 160 are finished being fed. For instance, if the feeder 160is feeding a packet of five documents to the imaging station 210, it isdesirable to maintain the grouping of the packet, without mixing thedocuments in the packet with other documents. Therefore, no furtherdocuments are advanced into the second prefeed assembly while thatfeeder 160 is finishing singulating the documents in the packet. Oncethe final document in a packet clears the second pre-feed assembly, thesystem sends a signal to the document transport to advance the nextdocument or packet of documents from the drop feeder 100 to the pre-feedassembly 120.

The image entry feeder 110 module processes single document differentlythan a packet. Specifically, as the single document passes theultrasonic thickness detector 155 the detector determines whether thetransaction is a single document or a packet. If the detector 155determines that the transaction is a single document, the documentcontinues through the second pre-feed roller without stopping.

In contrast to the example of a single document, when a packet ofdocuments is fed to the pre-feeders, the ultrasound detector 155 detectsa transaction profile that is indicative of a packet rather than anindividual document. In response to a signal from the system that thetransaction is a packet, the brake may be energized. Specifically, oncethe transaction is determined to be a packet, the brake may be energizeda predetermined time delay after the time that the leading edge of thepacket is detected by the pre-feed sensor. However, it may be desirableto energize the brake for each transaction regardless of the whether thetransaction is a single document or multiple documents.

The timing of braking is independent from the timing of thedetermination that the transaction is a packet. In other words, thetiming of the brake is not measured from the time that the systemdetermines that the transaction is a packet. In fact, in typicaloperation, the pre-feed sensor may detect the leading edge of atransaction before the system determines whether or not the transactionis a packet in response to the signals from the ultrasound detector 155.Nonetheless, once the determination is made, the timing of the brakeactuation is measured from the time that the leading edge passed thepre-feed sensor.

Since the brake is connected to the drive shafts for the lower rollersof pre-feeders 122, 140, actuating the brake impedes displacement of thelower rollers of the pre-feeders 122, 140. By braking the lower rollersand continuing to drive the upper rollers to drive the packet forward,the top documents in the packet are shifted forwardly relative to thelower documents. In this way, the upper rollers tends to shift thedocuments in the packet forwardly relative to the bottom documents,causing the packet to shingle so that the leading edge of the topdocument overhangs the lead edge of the second document in the packet,which overhangs the lead edge of the third document in the packet, andso on, down to the bottom document in the packet. Shifting the topdocument(s) forwardly facilitates improved singulation of the packetrelative to a packet in which the top document in a packet is disposedrearwardly of the documents below in the packet.

Once the top document in a packet enters the feeder 160, the feederbelts 165 drive the document through the feeder toward the imagingstation 210. In this way, the feeder separates the lead document fromthe remaining documents in the packet, thereby singulating the document.As the leading edge of the document leaves the feeder 160, the feederexit sensor 215 senses the leading edge of the document. In response,the pre-feed clutch 197 may disengage the driving force transmitted tothe upper pre-feed rollers via the pre-feed drive belts 198, 199.Disengaging the pre-feed upper rollers, reduces the tendency of therollers to buckle the documents, which can occur in response to drivingthe packet forward toward the feeder while the retard holds thedocuments back.

After the lead document passes the feeder exit sensor 215, the leadingedge of the document enters the nip formed between the crusher rollers220. The crusher rollers 220 positively entrain the document and havegreater frictional control over the document than the frictional forcebetween the feeder 160 and the document. Therefore, the feeder 160 doesnot need to drive the document forwardly in order to continue to advancethe document. Accordingly, once the leading edge of the document isdetected by the sensor downstream from the crusher rollers 220, such asthe thickness detector (or a separate sensor detector similar to thefeeder exit sensor 215), it is known that the document is entrained byand therefore controlled by the crusher rollers. Therefore, to reducethe likelihood of the feeder 160 feeding the second document in thepacket before the first document is completely fed (commonly referred toas a double-feed), the controller may turn off the drive motor, therebystopping the feeder 160. Despite the fact that the feeder is stopped,the crusher rollers 210 entrain the document with sufficient frictionalforce that the crusher rollers drive the document forwardly, pulling itout of the feeder. A one-way overrun clutch allows the belt roller tospin while the feeder motor is stopped while the crusher rollers pullthe document out. Once the feeder exit sensor 215 senses the trailingedge of the document, the controller then actuates the drive motor 190to re-start the feeder to feed the next document in the packet in thesame way that the previous document was fed. Additionally, the clutch197 is actuated to re-connect the pre-feed drive belts 198, 199 with themotor 190, so that the upper rollers of the pre-feed assemblies 122, 140urge the packet toward the feeder 160.

Imaging Station

From the image entry feeder module 110, the documents serially enter anip formed between a pair of crusher rollers 220. Although the entryfeeder holds the documents down, it does not flatten the documents; itgenerally just holds an edge of the document flat against the base plateof the feeder. In contrast, the crusher attempts to flatten the creaseddocuments.

The crusher rollers 220 are elongated cylindrical aluminum rollers 222having a smooth surface. A plurality of elastomeric gripping rings 224are formed around the circumference of the roller 222, and spaced apartfrom one another. Preferably, a first gripping ring is positioned at theend of the roller 224 closest to the entry feeder 110, and a secondgripping ring is positioned on the roller a couple inches away. Morespecifically, preferably the second gripping ring is spaced inwardlyless than the width of the feeder 110. In addition, preferably a thirdgripping ring is positioned adjacent the opposite end of the roller. Thefirst and second gripping rings 224 provide nips that drive the paperfrom the entry feeder to the imager 230. The third gripping rings arepositioned so that they are not in the paper path (i.e. the thirdgripping rings do not engage the documents. Instead, the third grippingrings provide spacing to maintain the rollers parallel with a constantgap.

Preferably, the first two gripping rings 224 on the rollers 222 arepositioned so that both rollers engage a single fold for documents thatare tri-folded with the fold lines disposed parallel to the paper path.In this way, the gripping rings engage the edge-justified third of thetri-folded document, while the rest of the document can slide across thewidth of the crusher roller since the remaining width of the crusherroller in the paper path is aluminum. In this way, the crusher rollerflattens the documents without buckling the documents.

Referring now to FIGS. 9-10, a crusher slot 212 is provided. Asdiscussed above, the feeder 160 feeds documents to the crusher roller220. A cover 214 covers the document path. The cover 214 is spaced offof the base plate of the machine so that the feeder pulls the documentsunder the cover and through the gap to feed the documents to the crusherrollers 220. As discussed previously, the documents are in a horizontalrelationship as the feeder 160 drives the documents toward the crusherrollers 220.

The crusher slot 212 is formed in the cover 214 adjacent the crusherrollers 220. Specifically, the crusher slot 212 extends through thecover 214 to direct documents to the nip of the crusher rollers 220. Thecrusher slot extends into the gap between the cover 214 and the baseplate of the paper path. In this way, the crusher slot is disposedimmediately downstream from the feeder 160. Documents can be droppedinto the crusher slot 212 and an angled ramp in the crusher slot willdirect the leading edge of the document into the nip of the crusherrollers so that the document is pulled into a substantially horizontalorientation so that the document can be processed through the imager 230and then sorted by the sorting station 240.

A plurality of feeder exit sensors are disposed in the feeder betweenthe image entry feeder module 110 and the crusher roller 220. Afterpassing the feeder exit sensors and the crusher roller 220, the documentpasses through a thickness detector that measures the document at aplurality of points along the length of the document.

From the thickness detector, the document enters the imager 230.Preferably the imager comprises a pair of scanners for scanning bothsides of the document. Specifically, preferably the imager 230 includesa lower plate in which the lower scanner 230 is located, and an upperplate in which the upper scanner is located. The lower scanner 230 scansthe bottom face of the document, and the upper scanner scans the upperface of the document. As shown in FIG. 4 preferably the upper plate ofthe scanner is pivotable upwardly away from the lower plate to allowaccess into the imaging station 210 in the event of a jam in the imagingstation.

Although the scanners may be black and white or gray scale, preferably,the scanners 230 are color scanners. More specifically, preferably thescanners 230 are contact image sensor (CIS) modules formed of arrays ofphotodiodes that operate as scanning elements, and LED light sources.

Referring to FIG. 12, details of an imaging assembly 300 areillustrated. The imaging assembly 300 may be incorporated into theimager 230 of the imaging station 210.

The imaging assembly 300 comprises an elongated housing 310 that extendsacross the width of the document path. The housing 310 is shaped similarto an elongated channel having side walls 315. It should be noted thatFIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view along the length of the channel. Acentral slot in the base of the housing forms a socket into which theimaging sensor 320 is positioned. It should be understood that theimaging sensor comprises a series of elements extending along the lengthof the channel so that the imaging sensor is able to obtain image dataalong the width of the paper path.

A pair of angled shoulders in the housing provide support surfaces ontowhich illumination elements are mounted. For instance, LED arrays 325are mounted onto the angled shoulders to illuminate the documents as thedocuments are conveyed over the imaging assembly 300. A lens 330 may bepositioned over the imaging sensor 320. For instance, in the presentinstance, a focusing rod lens array is provided. The imaging sensor isin electrical communication with the contact image sensor PCB circuit.

A glass covering or lens 350 encloses the upper end of the housing 310.In the present instance, the glass 350 is a generally planar elementforming a flat plate. The light elements 325 are disposed at angle tothe surface of the glass, while the imaging sensor 320 is substantiallyperpendicular to the glass covering.

A cap 360 overlies the glass covering 350. The cap 369 comprises anelongated channel formed of two spaced apart legs 362. The legs 362 arespaced apart a distance corresponding to the width of the imaginghousing 310 so that the cap can clip onto the housing to fix theposition and orientation of the cap relative to the housing, which inturn fixes the position of the cap relative to the imaging sensor 320.

The cap 360 further includes a top face 364 that overlies the glass lens320. A slot 366 through the thickness of the top face of the capprovides an aperture through which the imaging sensor can obtain imagedata for the documents to be scanned. As shown by the arrow in FIG. 12extending from right to left, the arrow indicates the direction oftravel for the documents as the documents pass over the imaging assembly300. A tapered surface or ramp 368 guides the documents onto the topsurface 364 of the cap 360 as the documents pass over the imagingassembly. Additionally, the trailing edge of the slot 366 in the cap 360tends to direct the document along the paper path when the leading edgespans the slot 364. More specifically, the tapered lip 372 impedes theleading edge from curling down into the slot and potentially bucklingdown into the slot.

The top surface of the cap 364 forms the focal plane for the imagingsensor 320. However, the top surface of the cap is spaced apart from theglass and dust will tend to settle onto the glass. Since the uppersurface of the cap is the focal plane and since the upper surface isspaced apart from the glass by a gap, the dust is outside of the depthof view of the imaging sensors. Therefore, the duct will have reducedimpact, if any impact at all, on the image quality.

As the document passes between the scanners, the scanners scan the facesof the document to obtain image data representing a color image of thedocument faces. The image is communicated with the system computer andthe image data is stored in a data file associated with the document.

From the scanner, the document is conveyed to a MICR detector, whichattempts to read any MICR markings on the document. Specifically, MICRmarkings are printed in magnetizable ink. The MICR detector includes amagnet that exposes the document to a magnetic field. The MICR detectoralso includes a MICR reader that scans the document for magneticfluctuations indicative of MICR characters. If the apparatus detects thepresence of a MICR line, the MICR detector attempts to read the MICRline. The data representing the MICR information is then communicatedwith the system computer, which stores the MICR data in a data fileassociated with the document.

Imaging Transport

The imaging transport extends between the imaging station 210 and thesorting station 240. Preferably the imaging transport is formed of twohalves, and the upper half is pivotable away from the lower half toprovide access to the transport path to remove any paper jam in thetransport, or perform service on the interior element, as shown in FIG.4.

As shown in FIG. 1, the document path between the imaging station 210and the sorting station 240 is preferably not a straight horizontalpath. Instead, preferably, the imaging transport turns upwardly andcurves backwardly toward the seating area 15. Between the imagingstation 210 and the sorting station 240, an optional uncreasing stationand a printer may be disposed along the transport path. The uncreasingstation is a guide having a sharp edge that the documents pass over asthe documents turn along the transport path. If included, the printer isdisposed along the transport so that the printer can print markings onthe documents as they are conveyed to the sorting station 240.

The printer includes at least one ink jet printer. The printer isdisposed behind covers in the imaging transport. More specifically, afirst printer is preferably disposed behind a plate in the upper portionand preferably the second printer is disposed behind a plate in thelower portion. In response to signals from the computer, the printer(s)prints audit trail data onto each document. The audit trail informationprinted on a document includes data particular to the document, such asthe document type for each document, the batch number for the document,the document number, the transaction number for the transaction of whichthe document is a member, and the date on which the document wasprocessed. The audit trail information can be used to subsequentlylocate a particular document within a stack of documents.

Sorting Station

The sorting station 240 is disposed at the end of the imaging transport,and the sorting station includes a plurality of gates operable to sortthe documents into one of a plurality of bins 245. The sorting stationincludes a plurality of gates that are operable to direct the documentsto the appropriate bin 245. The sorting can be based on a number ofcriteria. For instance, the documents can be sorted according toinformation determined from the image data.

The documents follow a generally vertical paper path as the documentsare conveyed up to the output bins 245. When the documents are directedinto one of the bins, the gate re-directs the document from a generallyvertical direction headed upward to a generally horizontal path over aseries of output roller s 252 mounted on a rotatable axle 250. Thedocument is the directed generally downwardly toward the output bin 245.In this way, the documents curl over the output rollers 252. As such,the leading edge of the document frequently tends to buckle under whenit contacts the bottom of the output bin or the other documents in theoutput bin. When the documents buckle under the document fold and oftendeflect subsequent preventing the documents from forming a neat andcompact stack in the output bin.

Referring to FIG. 11, in the present instance, a pair of guide elementsmay be provided to guide the documents into the output bin and impedethe document from buckling under. Specifically, a plurality of supportfingers 260 are spaced apart across the width of the output bin. Theguide finger 260 form guide ramps that guide the leading edge of thedocuments down toward the output bin at a relatively shallow angle toprevent the lead edge from buckling under.

Each support finger 260 has a proximal end mounted adjacent thedischarge slot through which the document is discharge into the outputbin. The distal end of each support finger extend downwardly into aguide slot 270 formed in the base of the output bin 245. In the presentinstance the distal end of the support fingers form an oblique anglewith the base of the output bin to impede the document from bucklingunder.

Additionally, a plurality of hold down fingers 280 oppose the supportfingers to form a slot through which the documents are discharged.Specifically, the proximal ends of the support fingers 260 are spacedapart to provide and opening through which the documents are discharged.The support fingers support the lower face of the documents to keep thedocument from buckling under while the hold down fingers press againstthe top surface of the document impeding the document from curlingupwardly. The distal end of the hold down fingers 280 rest against thesupport fingers when the output bin is empty or against the top documentwhen there is a document in the output bin. Additionally, the upper orproximal end of each hold down finger 280 is pivotally connected to asupport rod adjacent the discharge rollers 252. In this way, as the pilein the bin grows, the distal end of the hold down fingers are pushedupwardly and supported by the stack.

In order to promote the flow of documents into the bin, the supportfingers are pressed downwardly from the weight of the documents in thebin. Specifically, as noted above, the proximal end of the hold downfingers hang from a support adjacent the discharge slot for the bin. Agap is formed between the support fingers 260 and the hold down fingers280. In order to maintain the gap to accommodate documents beingdischarged into the bin, the proximal end of the support fingers movedownwardly away from the proximal end of the hold down fingers 280 asmore documents are sorted to the output bin.

The proximal ends of the support fingers 260 may be mounted on ahorizontal rod that extends across the width of the output bin. Thehorizontal rod may be vertically displaceable in response to the weightof the documents pressing down against the support fingers. Morespecifically, one or more biasing elements may bias the horizontalsupport rod upwardly. As documents are discharged into the output bin245, the weight of the documents pushes down against the support fingers260, which in turn will tend to displace the support rod downwardlyagainst the bias of the biasing elements.

Alternatively, rather than mounting the support fingers on a commonhorizontal support rod, the fingers may be independently mounted on aguide that allows the proximal end of the support fingers to bedisplaced vertically. Each finger may also be biased upwardly to providethe upwardly force that will support the support fingers while allowingthe support fingers to move downwardly in response to an increasingweight of the stack of documents.

When configured as described above, the displaceable support fingersprovide a generally constant shallow discharge angle for the documentsas the documents enter the output bin. Specifically, as the documentsstack up in the bin, the support fingers move downwardly so that theposition of the top documents in the output bin relative to the holddown fingers stays relatively constant as documents stack up in the bin.

Referring now to FIGS. 13-21 a scanning station work station 400 isillustrated in which the work station comprises a horizontal dropconveyor 410 similar to the drop conveyor 110 discussed above. The workstation further includes an image entry assembly 420 substantiallysimilar to the image entry assembly 120 described above. The workstation further includes an imaging station 430 and a sorting stationsubstantially similar to the imaging station 210 and sorting station 240described above.

The work station 400 includes a first vertical support 450 and a secondvertical support 460 spaced apart from the first vertical support. Thehorizontal drop conveyor 410 spans between the two vertical supports450, 460.

The work station further includes a pivoting outrigger 470 adjacent thefirst vertical support 450. The outrigger comprises a pair of roller orwheels. In FIG. 14 the outrigger is illustrated in the retractedposition. In FIG. 13 the outrigger is pivoted up into the deployedposition.

As shown in the drawings, the first and second vertical supports 450,460 pivot upwardly to collapse the support structure for the workstation. A series of latching elements releasably lock the verticalsupports in the deployed position in which the work station is shown inFIG. 13. Additionally, the outrigger includes a pair of locking pinsthat lock the outrigger 470 in the deployed position shown in FIG. 13.In this position, the outrigger supports the front edge of the workstation as the work station is stowed away. For instance, the outriggermay engage the floor of a transportation vehicle, such as the bed of avan. The first and second vertical supports can then be unlocked and thevertical support collapse as the work station in stowed.

Referring again to FIG. 14, the device 400 comprises a generallyhorizontal frame 500 extending across the width of the device. The Firstand second vertical supports 450, 460 extend downwardly from thehorizontal frame 500. Additionally, the outrigger 470 is pivotablyconnected with the horizontal frame 500.

The outrigger 470 comprises a pivotable frame 610 having a pair ofgenerally parallel spaced apart arms. The upper ends of the arms arerotatably connected with the upper frame 500 of the device. An axleconnected to the lower end of the frame 610 spans between the lower endsof the arms. A pair of rollers or wheels 616 are rotatably mounted onthe axle.

A locking yoke 510 is rigidly connected with the horizontal frame member500 for locking the outrigger in the upper position. The locking yokecomprises a pair of spaced apart locking blocks having locking apertures512. The locking blocks are spaced apart a distance related to thedistance between the arms of the outrigger frame. In this way, when theoutrigger 470 is pivoted upwardly into a deployed position, the arms ofthe outrigger frame 610 straddle the mounting blocks of the locking yoke510. The outrigger frame comprises a pair of locking pins 614 mounted inlocking holes. A stop bar 514 fixed to the horizontal frame 500 forms astop for positioning the outrigger in the deployed position.Specifically, when the outrigger is pivoted upwardly (clockwise from theperspective of FIG. 14.) until the arms of the outrigger frame 610contact the stop bar 514, the locking holes of the outrigger arms alignwith the locking holes 512 in the locking yoke 510. Inserting thelocking pins 614 into the aligned holes in the outrigger frame 610 andthe locking yoke 510 locks the outrigger 470 in the deployed position.

As shown in FIG. 15, when locked in the deployed position, the outrigger470 extends generally horizontally. However, in the present instance,when the outrigger is deployed, the outrigger forms an angle with thehorizontal frame 500. More specifically, the wheels 616 of the outrigger470 extend below the bottom edge of the horizontal frame 500.

Referring now to FIGS. 15-16, the details of the first vertical support450 will be described in greater detail. The first vertical supportcomprises a first pillar 620 having a pair of inner legs 628 thattelescope within outer support 626. In the present instance, cooperinggears drive the inner legs 628 relative to the outer support 626 toextend or retract the length of the first pillar 620. The gear box 630mounted at the top of the first pillar 620 drives the cooperating gearsfor extending the first pillar. Specifically, a drive axle 632cooperates with the gear box 630. Rotating the drive axle 632 drives thegears in the gear box 630, thereby actuating the extension andretraction of the first pillar. In this way, the length of the firstpillar can be extended or retracted to raise or lower the height of thework station 400.

First vertical support 450 is pivotably connected with the horizontalframe 500 to collapse the device for transportation. As shown in FIGS.15-16, in the present instance the first vertical support is pivotablebetween an extended position shown in FIG. 15 and a collapsed positionas shown in FIG. 16. The first vertical support 450 pivotscounter-clockwise (from the perspective of FIG. 15) to collapse thefirst vertical support.

The first vertical support 450 may also include an angle bracket 634 tosupport the first vertical support to impede displacement of the firstpillar from the vertical position to the collapsed position.Specifically, the angle bracket 634 impedes pivoting of the pillar 620in a counter-clockwise direction (from the perspective of FIG. 15).However, the angle bracket 634 is a collapsible to permit displacementof the first vertical support 450. Specifically, the angle bracket 634comprises two hinged elements that permit the angle bracket to fold,thereby allowing folding of the first vertical support. A lockingelement impedes folding of the angle bracket. For instance, as shown inFIG. 15, a locking pin 636 may extend across the hinged parts of theangle bracket to impede relative rotation of the hinged parts.Alternatively, a spring-loaded latching element may span the hingedelements to impede folding of the support bracket 634.

As shown in FIG. 16, after the locking element 636 is released, theangle bracket 634 is folded, thereby allowing the first vertical support450 to pivot the vertical support upwardly into the collapsed position.In the collapsed position, the first vertical support is generallyhorizontal up against the horizontal frame 500.

In the present instance, a pair of rollers or wheels 624 are mounted onan axle 622 attached to the lower end of the first vertical support 450.In particular, the wheels 624 may have a diameter large enough that inthe collapsed position the lower edges of the wheels extend below theside of the first vertical support. In this way, the lower wheels 624provide rolling elements along the midpoint of the horizontal frame 500.

Referring now to FIG. 17, the horizontal frame 500 may include extensionslides 520 to expand the width of the horizontal frame. Morespecifically, the extension slides 520 comprises horizontal rails thatextend and retract with cooperating horizontal rails of the horizontalframe 500. In this way, the extension slides can be pulled outhorizontal to expand the frame. A work surface, such as a countersurface or other horizontal element can be placed on the extensionslides to expand the work surface of the work station 400.

In the present instance, the second vertical pillar 460 is connected tothe extension slides 520. The second vertical pillar is configuredsimilarly to the first vertical pillar 450 described above.Specifically, the second vertical pillar 460 comprises a second pillar640 having an outer support 646 and a pair of telescoping inner legs 648to extend and retract the length of the second vertical support 460 toraise and lower the height of the upper frame 500. The second verticalsupport 460 also includes an axle 642 connected to the lower end of thesecond vertical support 460 and a pair of rollers or wheels 644rotatably mounted on the axle.

The second vertical support 460 also includes cooperating gears or otherdrive elements for extending and retracting the inner legs 648 relativeto the outer support 646. A gear box 650 connected to the upper end ofthe second vertical support 460 is operable to drive the inner legsrelative to the outer support, thereby extending or retracting thevertical support. Similar to the first vertical support, the secondvertical support includes a drive axle 652 cooperable with the gear boxto extend and retract the telescoping legs. As shown in FIG. 18, a crankarm 653 is detachably connected with the drive axle 652 The crank arm653 is manually operable to rotate the drive axle to raise and lower theheight of the work station.

As shown in FIGS. 18-21, the second vertical support is pivotablebetween a vertical position and a collapsed position. In the presentinstance, a locking bracket impedes the vertical support from pivotinginto the collapsed position. By releasing the locking bracket, thesecond vertical support pivots upwardly to collapse the leg. In thepresent instance, the second vertical support is pivotable in acounter-clockwise direction (from the perspective of FIG. 18) tocollapse the second vertical support. After the second vertical leg iscollapsed, the wheels on the bottom of the second vertical supportproject below the horizontal surface of the second vertical support andbelow the upper frame 500. In this way, the wheels 644 provide arotatable support at the right end of the work station when the workstation is collapsed. Further still, as shown in FIG. 21, after theupper end of the second vertical support is pivotable connected to asupport bracket attached to the upper frame. More specifically, themounting bracket is slideable within a channel in the upper frame 500.In this way, after the second vertical support 460 is collapsed, thesecond vertical support can be translated along the length of the upperframe 500 to reduce the overall length of the work station in thecollapsed configuration.

Configured as described above, the work station can be readily collapsedand stowed into a vehicle or transport element. For instance, the workstation can be stowed as follows. The work station can be rolled to theopening in a vehicle having a generally flat bed or floor. The outrigger470 is pivoted upwardly into a deployed position and locked in thedeployed position as shown in FIG. 15. The work station is thenpartially loaded onto the floor of the vehicle by rolling the outriggerwheels on the floor of the vehicle. The angle bracket 634 is then foldedallowing to the first vertical support 450 to be pivoted upwardly. Afterthe first vertical support is released, the workstation can be loadedfurther into the vehicle by continuing to roll the outrigger wheelsfurther on the vehicle floor. As the work station is further loaded ontothe vehicle, the first vertical support contacts the rear end of thevehicle thereby pushing against the first vertical support to pivot thefirst vertical support upwardly. Once the first vertical support ispivoted into a generally horizontal orientation, the wheels on thebottom of the second vertical support provide rolling support for thework station so that the partially collapsed work station is supportedby the outrigger wheels and the wheels of the collapsed first verticalsupport. The partially collapsed work station can then be rolled furtheronto the vehicle support at the front end by the outrigger wheels andsupport at the midpoint by the wheel on the first vertical support. Thework station is further loaded onto the vehicle until the secondvertical support reaches the vehicle. By releasing the locking bracketfor the second vertical support the second vertical support can bepivoted upwardly into the collapsed position. Specifically, after thesecond vertical support is unlocked the second vertical support can becollapsed by pushing the work station further onto the vehicle so thatthe edge of the vehicle pushes against the second vertical supportpivoting the second vertical support upwardly as the work station isloaded onto the vehicle. If desired, the second vertical leg can then betranslated to shorten the overall length of the collapsed device.

It will be recognized by those skilled in the art that changes ormodifications may be made to the above-described embodiments withoutdeparting from the broad inventive concepts of the invention. It shouldtherefore be understood that this invention is not limited to theparticular embodiments described herein, but is intended to include allchanges and modifications that are within the scope and spirit of theinvention as set forth in the claims.

The invention claimed is:
 1. An apparatus for processing documents,comprising: a feeder operable to receive a packet of a plurality ofdocuments and separate the documents to serially feed the documents awayfrom the feeder, wherein the feeder comprises an entry gap having alength defined between a minimum entry point and a maximum entry point;a sensor for detecting a characteristic of the documents in a packetindicative of whether the number of documents in a packet exceeds apredetermined threshold; a pre-feeder for feeding the packet ofdocuments to a start point in the entry gap wherein the start point is avariable location between the minimum entry point and the maximum entrypoint; a controller configured to determine the location of the startpoint in response to data received from the sensor regarding thedetected characteristic, wherein in response to determining the locationof the start point, the controller is configured to control operation ofthe pre-feeder to advance the packet to the start point.
 2. Theapparatus of claim 1 comprising a scanner for scanning the documents toobtain image data for the documents, wherein the feeder feeds thedocuments to the scanner.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2 comprising agenerally horizontal conveyor for conveying packets of documents to thepre-feeder.
 4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the horizontal conveyoris configured to receive packets of documents dropped onto the conveyorand advance the packets toward the pre-feeder.
 5. The apparatus of claim1 comprising a retard adjacent the feeder, wherein the entry gap isformed between the feeder and the retard.
 6. The apparatus of claim 5wherein the feeder has an engagement surface for engaging the documents,and the engagement surface has a coefficient of friction, wherein theretard has a coefficient of friction lower than the coefficient offriction of the engagement surface.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1 whereinthe characteristic is the thickness of the packet of documents.
 8. Theapparatus of claim 1 wherein the pre-feeder advances the packet into theentry gap a distance inversely proportional to the thickness of thepacket.
 9. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the controller is configuredto control the pre-feeder to selectively feed the packet to one of aplurality of points spaced apart from the minimum entry point to themaximum entry point.
 10. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the controlleris configured to control the pre-feeder to advance the packet to adifferent starting point in response to receiving a signal indicative ofa change in the thickness of the packet while the packet is in the entrygap.
 11. The apparatus of claim 1 comprising a plurality of gap sensorsspaced apart along the length of the entry gap wherein the gap sensorsdetect the position of the leading edge of the packet between theminimum entry point and the maximum entry point.
 12. The apparatus ofclaim 1 wherein the feeder comprises a belt or a roller and the entrygap is a space between the belt or the roller and an opposing surface.13. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein the pre-feeder comprises apre-feed roller or a pre-feed belt forming a nip with an opposingelement for receiving the packet.
 14. An apparatus for processingdocuments, comprising: a feeder operable to receive a packet of aplurality of documents and separate the documents to serially feed thedocuments away from the feeder, wherein the feeder comprises a roller ora belt and an entry gap having a thickness between the roller or thebelt and an opposing surface; a sensor for detecting a characteristic ofthe documents in the packet indicative of whether the number ofdocuments in the packet exceeds a predetermined threshold; a pre-feederfor feeding the packet of documents into the entry gap of the feeder; acontroller configured to control the pre-feeder in response to datareceived from the sensor, wherein in response to receiving data from thesensor indicative of the number of documents in the packet exceeding afirst threshold the controller is configured to control the pre-feederto drive the packet a first distance into the entry gap; and wherein inresponse to receiving data from the sensor indicative of the number ofdocuments in the packet exceeding a second threshold the controller isconfigured to control the pre-feeder to drive the packet a seconddistance into the entry gap.
 15. The apparatus of claim 14 comprising ascanner for scanning the documents to obtain image data for thedocuments, wherein the feeder serially feeds the documents to thescanner.
 16. The apparatus of claim 14 comprising a generally horizontalconveyor for conveying packets of documents to the drive mechanism. 17.The apparatus of claim 16 wherein the horizontal conveyor is configuredto receive packets of documents dropped onto the conveyor and advancethe packets toward the pre-feeder.
 18. The apparatus of claim 16 whereinthe opposing surface comprises a retard so that the entry gap is formedbetween the belt or the roller and the retard.
 19. The apparatus ofclaim 14 wherein the characteristic is the thickness of the packet ofdocuments.
 20. The apparatus of claim 19 wherein the pre-feeder advancesthe packet into the entry gap a distance inversely related to thethickness of the packet.
 21. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein thecontroller is configured to control the pre-feeder to advance the packetto a different point in the entry gap in response to receiving a signalindicative of a change in the thickness of the packet while the packetis in the entry gap.
 22. The apparatus of claim 14 comprising aplurality of gap sensors spaced apart the length of the entry gapwherein the gap sensors detect the position of the leading edge of thepacket in the entry gap.